Cold Recycling with Foamed Bitumen: A Pioneering Formula

Resource-saving technologies are more in demand than ever before. The Wirtgen cold recycling process has been proving its credentials for many years – and already meets the demands of tomorrow.

Roads that are subjected to continuous and heavy traffic often show signs of damage that extend down to the road base. To eliminate this damage, the entire road needs structural rehabilitation. Full re-use of the milled material as well as its cost-effective treatment make cold recycling with foamed bitumen – a process pioneered and decisively shaped by Wirtgen over the past 30 years – environmentally friendly and economical.

Asphalt road rehabilitation with mobile road works

Cold recycling with foamed bitumen as a binding agent is a globally established process that is attracting increasing interest from road construction authorities and construction companies for asphalt road rehabilitation. It permits the paving of flexible and durable base layers. As part of the pavement structure, these form the perfect foundation for the final, thinner asphalt surfacing. State-of-the-art technology is used to produce foamed bitumen from normal bitumen which has been heated to approximately 175°C. With the in-situ method, a precisely dosed quantity of binding agent is added to mineral aggregate inside the WIRTGEN 2200 CR or 3800 CR cold recycler or the soil stabilizers of the WR series, using microprocessor-controlled injection systems. The project can hence be carried out as a mobile road works site.

With foamed bitumen, it is possible to pave high-quality base courses cost-effectively using cold mix

Cold recycling on the rise

The cold recycling process has proven its worth around the world. In practical use, there are two different methods: an in-situ approach using wheeled or tracked Wirtgen cold recyclers, and the in-plant method using the Wirtgen KMA 200i, a mobile cold recycling mixing plant. The methods allow a large number of materials to be recycled such as milled asphalt, crushed asphalt or new material. The application range for foamed bitumen is varied, and it can also withstand very high traffic loads, as two examples in Brazil and Greece show.

Addition of foamed bitumen and water to mineral aggregate by means of separate injection systems.

Brazil: Recycled material exceeds expectations

The Ayrton Senna Highway in Sao Paulo is used by more than 250,000 vehicles every day, 15% of them trucks. During the rehabilitation project in 2011, milled material from the asphalt pavement was recycled with foamed bitumen in a Wirtgen cold recycling mixing plant and repaved in two layers (20 plus 10 cm) by a road paver. Then a 5cm-thick asphalt surfacing was laid.

Greece: High load-bearing capacity for more than 10 years

The cold recycling projects carried out with foamed bitumen back in 2003/2004 on the motorways between Iliki, Korinthos and Athens, Greece, have been demonstrating their strength for more than ten years, withstanding a high traffic volume of 40,000 vehicles per day including a 25% share of heavy vehicles.

The bitumen used for production of foamed bitumen is widely available around the world.

Cold recycling with WIRTGEN: Applications expertise included

To achieve such results, extensive preliminary tests must be conducted on the entire pavement structure, while the mix produced with foamed bitumen must pass a rigorous mix design test. Wirtgen not only supply the right equipment for the job – customers can also make use of their comprehensive range of advisory services around the world at any time. For instance, Wirtgen experts and road construction engineers provide on-site support and advice for customer projects. The Wirtgen training program also conveys in-depth applications know-how on the topic of cold recycling.

The WLB 10 S laboratory-scale foamed bitumen plant can be used to carry out series of tests to determine the foamed bitumen properties.

Ancillary cold recycling equipment from Wirtgen

New WLV 1 laboratory compactor

Wirtgen developed the new WLV 1 laboratory compactor for the production of test specimens. Developed especially for cold recycling applications, the compaction process permits the production of large test specimens for carrying out triaxial tests as well as small test specimens for indirect tensile strength testing.

Depending on the test procedures, the WLV 1 produces test specimen of various heights. Their quality is then examined with the indirect tensile strength test.

WLM 30 laboratory-scale mixer

The WLM 30 laboratory-scale mixer defines the best mix composition and reliably produces different mix formulas in a very short time. The WLM 30 holds some 30kg of material, mixer speed and mixing time are variable.

A key attribute of the WLM 30 twin-shaft compulsory mixer for batches of approximately 30kg is its high mixing intensity.

WLB 10 S laboratory foamed bitumen plant

The foamed bitumen quality can be accurately defined in preliminary tests in the WLB 10 S mobile foamed bitumen plant even before construction starts. With its simple operation, parameters such as the water volume, pressure and temperature can be varied

What is foamed bitumen and how is it made?

Foamed bitumen is produced by injecting small quantities of water and air into hot bitumen under high pressure. The water evaporates and makes the bitumen foam up rapidly to between 15 and 20 times its original volume. The foam is then injected into a mixer through injection nozzles and optimally mixed into cold and moist construction materials. The quality of the foamed bitumen is primarily described in terms of the parameters “expansion ratio” and “half-life”. The greater the expansion ratio and half-life, the more easily the foamed bitumen can be processed.

The foaming process takes place in expansion chambers, where air and water is injected at a pressure of 5 bar into bitumen that has been heated to a temperature of 160 to 180ºC.

Cold recycling advantages at a glance:

Extreme durability of the layers

High cost-efficiency

Resource conservation by 100% recycling

Reduced COٍ₂ emissions

Reduced construction time

Close to our customers

Communication is everything

Press Media

Please download the ZIP-archive with the press release as WORD-file and the photos in 300 dpi in your relevant language.

Contact person

WIRTGEN POLSKA is a member of the WIRTGEN GROUP, an internationally operating group of companies in the construction machinery sector incorporating the traditional product brands: WIRTGEN, VÖGELE, HAMM, KLEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN. As technological leader, we can offer our customers mobile machine solutions for road construction and road rehabilitation, plants for mining and processing minerals or recycling material and for the production of asphalt. Our ratios: In 2018 the WIRTGEN GROUP generated consolidated sales of more than 3 billion euros. Presently the WIRTGEN GROUP employs 8,700 people.

WIRTGEN POLSKA is a member of the WIRTGEN GROUP, an internationally operating group of companies in the construction machinery sector incorporating the traditional product brands: WIRTGEN, VÖGELE, HAMM, KLEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN. As technological leader, we can offer our customers mobile machine solutions for road construction and road rehabilitation, plants for mining and processing minerals or recycling material and for the production of asphalt. Our ratios: In 2018 the WIRTGEN GROUP generated consolidated sales of more than 3 billion euros. Presently the WIRTGEN GROUP employs 8,700 people.